Nail-string



F. L. MACkENZIE,

NAIL STRiNG. I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 8.

Fig". 5.

Patented May 10,1921.

UNITED STATES m orrlct.

FRED L. MACKENZIE, 0E BEVERLY, ivrassacnnsnr'rs, assrenon T0 UNITED sHoE MACHINERY CORPORATION, NEW JERSEY.

or IPATEBSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NAIL-STRING. I I 7 Application filed September 20, 1918. Serial no, 254,919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, F RED L. MACKENZIE,

a citizenof the United States, residing at Beverly, in the county of, Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Nail-Strings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to metallic fastenings and particularly to fastenings ofthe type ordinarily termed string nails. String nails, such as are employed in the manufacture of boots and shoes, are commonly made by punching or dieing a flat strip or ribbon of metal so as to form the strip into a series of taperingnails jolned together in one integral string, the point of one nail being connected to the head of the following nail. The individual nails composing the nail string are formed with heads which project from one side only of their shanks owing to the difliculty of providing heads extending from more than one side or the nail shanks without a swaging or upsetting operation which would add very greatly to the expense of manufacturing the nailstring. Heretofore, nail strings have been constructed with the heads of all or the nails of the string projecting from the same side of the string. Consequently, when the individual nails are severed from the string and driven into the work, their heads extend in the same direction from their shanks, thus lessening thelr resistance r to the separation of the attached pieces of The present invention has for its object to provide an improved nail string of'the type above referred to, by which the holding power and the efficiency of the nalls are materially increased and which may be produced with as little expense as nail strmgs of usual construction.

.Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following descript on and claims when considered in connec- Specification of Letters Patent. Pate t d M 10 192 tion with the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 illustrates the preferred form of nail stringembodying the present invention, Flg. 2 1s a perspective view of a portion of a shoe, part of which is broken away to shrw the welt attaching nails driven therein, an

Fig. 3 is a cross-section on the line 3-3 of F ig. 2.

ljig. 4 illustrates another form of I nail string in accordance with this invention.

"Inthe preferred form of nail string embodying the invention, as shown by reference to Fig. 1, the successive nails in the string 2 are so cut or-punched therefrom as to form the nail heads with portions extending farther from the axes of the nails on one side than on the other, the axis of a nail being taken as a line through its shank equidistant from its side edges. As shown in Figs. 1 to 3 the nails are provided with ofl'set heads 3 which project alternately from opposite sides of the string. As shown in Fig. f the nails are formed with a main or major projection 6 on one side of their heads and with a minor projection 7 on the other side, the nails being arranged in the string so that successive nails have the main projections of their heads formed alternately on opposite sides of the nail string. The nails are also arranged in the string 2 sothat their points are substantially .alined with the centers of their heads and are constructed substantially centrally to the heads of succeeding nails of the string. According to the preferred practice, this is effected by cutting away material at both sides of the string leaving a blank with a head portion 3 of a width substantially equal to the width of the strip and a tapering shank 5 which depends from one side of the head portion 3 and terminates in the, plane of the. axis of the strip 2, the successive nails in the string'having their tapering shanks 5 depending from opposite sides of their above described may be used in a string nail ing machine of the character employedfor inserting string nails of usual form.

In consequence of the novel construction and arrangement of the nails of the nail string, they are inserted into the work by string nailing machines as now constructed with the heads of each pair of adjacent nails extending in opposite directions from their shanks in the direction of the seam formed by the nails and with the heads of alternate nails of the string projecting from their shanks in the same direction. By reason of such reversed relation of the heads of adj acent nails of the seam, equal resistance is imposed to the separation of the attached parts regardless of the direction in which the straintending to separate such parts is exerted. Moreover, the holding power of the nails is further increased, and consequently the seam is materially strengthened by clenching all of the nails in the samedirection in the usual manner, the result being that the nails are alternately clenched on the sides of their shanks opposite to those from which their respective heads project, thereby providing a novel and effective interlocking arrangement of the nails in the work. A seam composed of nails taken from the improved nail string accordingly possesses holding power substantially equal to that of a seam composed of loose nails or other nails having heads extending from all sides of their shanks.

It will be further noted that inasmuch as the points of the individual nails are alined substantially with the centers of their heads, the heads of the nails are uniformly spaced in the work regardless of the reversed dispositions of the heads relatively to their shanks when driven into the work.

Having fully described my invention, WhatI vclaim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A nail string comprising a series, of nails arranged with the points of the nails connected to the heads of the succeeding nails in which the heads of certain of the.

nails of the string project in a direction opposite to that in which the heads of certain other of the nails project.

2. A nail string comprising a series of nails arranged with the points of the nails connected to the heads of the succeeding nails invwhich the heads of adjacent nails of the string project alternately from opposite sides of the string.

3. A nail string comprisinga series of nails formedwith heads which project farther from one side of their shanks than from the other, said nails being arranged in the nail string with the points of the nails connected to the heads of the succeed ing nails and adjacent nails having the main projections of their heads formed alternately on opposite sides of the nail string.

4:. A nail string comprising a series of nails each having a head extending to one side of the shank thereof and arranged with the points of the nails connected to the heads of the succeeding nails in which adjacent nails have their longitudinal axes positioned in Planes at angles to each other.

5. As an article of manufacture, a nail string comprising a plurality of nails connected in series head to point the heads of adjacent nails in the string projecting alternately in opposite directions in the plane of the string and the point of each nail being connected centrally'to the head of the succeeding nail.

6. As an article of manufacture, a nail string comprising a plurality of nails .each having a head extending to one side of the shank and connectedin series head to point, consecutive nails of the nail string being oppositely inclined in the plane of the string.

7. As an article of manufacture, a nail string formed from a strip of sheet metal and comprising a plurality of nails each having a tapered shank and a head extending to one side of the shank, the nails being connected'in series head to point with the points ofthe nails arranged substantially centrally of the heads of the adjacent nails.

8. A nail string comprising a series of nails having their heads extending farther from their axes on one side than on the other in which consecutive nails of the string have the main portions of their heads disposed on opposite sides of their axes.v

9. A nail string comprising a series of nails united head to point and having their heads extending farther from their axes on one side than on the other in which the adjacent ,nails'of the string have the main portions of their heads disposed alternately on opposite sides of their axes.

10. A nail string comprising a series of nails formed with heads which project from their shanks, said nails being arranged in the nail string with the points of the nails connected to the heads of the succeeding nails and successive nails having the main projections of their heads formed alternately on opposite sides of the nail string.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

FRED L. MACKENZIE. 

